Phonograph apparatus



May 31, 1938. P. H. SMYTH, JR 2,119,251

' rnouoennn APPARATUS Filed Iarch l4, 1955 N INVENTOR.

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mp9 ATTORNEYS Patented May 31, 1938 sATEs.

PATENT rric 2,119,251 rnonoemirn APPARATUS Paul H. Smyth, in, Chicago, Ill.

Application March 14, 1935, Serial No. 11,092

9 Claims. (cl. 274-10) 'Ihisinvention relates to a phonograph apparatus.

It is an object or this invention to provide an improved phonograph apparatus which is rela- 5 tively simple and inexpensive in construction-and emcient in use.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved record-selecting device for an automatic phonograph.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved record-selecting device for an automatic phonograph and a new and improved device for manually and simultaneous- 1y resetting all of the record-selecting bars back lit into their initial or reset positions.

Qther objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

the invention will be best understood by ref erence to the accompanying drawing, showing the preferred form of construction and in which: Fig. 1 is a front elevational View of the new selector device;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same on line t-t in Fig. '1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line t-t in Fig; 1; Fig. i is a sectional view on line t-t in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5-5 in Fig.1. The present application relates particularly to an automatic phonograph apparatus and selector mechanism therefor.

1i preferred form of the new selector device is shown in the drawing, is therein generally indicated at it, and comprises a supporting frame it which is adapted to be arranged in a phonograph cabinet, a horizontal partition or wall it oi such a cabinet being shown; the front wall of such a cabinet being indicated at it (Fig. 2).

Adapted to be arranged in the front wall it oi a phonograph cabinet is a plate it which is formed as part of the supporting frame ii, and

slibly mounted in this panel it are two vertieai rows of push buttons is. f p

Arranged inwardly of the plate It is a vertically extending bank of selector bars It, each of which has one end portion pivotally mounted, as at H, in avertical side wall it of the frame Ii (Fig. 4). At its opposite end, that is, at the end of the same opposite the end which is pivotally mounted at H, each of the selector bars It has a notched portion Ill and projecting into each of these notched portions i9 is a bar 20. These bars .55 2am pivotally mounted, as at 49, in slots which are formed in a vertical wall 22 of the cabinet, and arranged on each of the bars 20 is a spring 2 i. The present record-selecting device comprises a swinging carriage it which includes a vertical guide member it and a slide bar it which is slid- 5 ably mounted upon the guide member M for movement relative thereto; and provided on this slide bar it is a lateral extension or lug it.

Ifivotally mounted, as at it, on the supporting frame l i is a resetting member 2! which includes a vertically extending portion it, this resetting member t'i-Zt having an arm it which is arranged in the path of the inner end portions 32 of a resetting plunger 33 (Fig. 5) w The resetting plunger it is slidable in the bore- 33 of a push button it and arranged on the plunger ill, within an enlarged portion it of the bore 33, is a resetting spring 35. Y

The resettingmernber ill-2t also includes a vertical bar portion in, and this bar portion St is engageable with the end portions ti" of the selector bars it.

Pivotally mounted upon the supporting frame M, as at this an automatic selector it and this 5 selector 3% has a vertically extending portion it which is projectible into a series of registered or aligned notches t i, one of these notches iii being formed in each of the selector bars it. This automatic selector device 39 is described and a claimed in the applicants copending applica-' tion, Ser..No. 22,701; filed May 22, 1935 for Phonographs, and only so much of it is herein shown and described in this application as'is necessary for an understanding of the subject matter 35 claimed in the present application.

Each of the push buttons i5 is provided with a bore or slot it and slidably mounted in each of these bores it is a plunger it; a resetting spring it being arranged on each plunger t2 to within an enlargement of the corresponding bore Operation In order to make a selection of one or more records which he desires to play, the operator of the phonograph apparatus embodying the present invention pushes inwardly upon a corresponding number of the selector buttons it, thereby pushing the plungers 42, which are associated with the selected buttons, inwardly against the action of their resetting springs 43.- This movement of the selector buttons l5 and theirplungers 42 pivots the corresponding selector bars 16 them full to dotted line position, Fig. 4) and during this movement of the bars l6, themembers 20 are moved or snapped past dead center position, in the notched end portions I9 of the selector bars i6, against the action of their resetting springs 2i, thereby retaining the selector bars IS in dotted line position (Fig. 4)

At a certain time during the automatic operation of the selector carriage 23, the slide bar 25 drops or slides down on its guide 24 until the lateral extension or lug 26 on the slide bar 25 engages, and comes to rest upon, the upper surface of the uppermost selector bar l6 which has been pressed inwardly or moved into effective position (as is illustrated in Fig. 2). This engagement of the lug 26 of the automatic selector carriage 23 upon the upper surface of the uppermost actuated selector bar i6 plays an important part in completing the record-selecting operation (which is described in my copending application), and after the record-selecting and playing operations have been completed, the actuated selector bars i6 may be reset manually into their initial positions by actuating the resetting push button 3|.

In order to reset the selector bars 16 manually into their initial positions, the push button 3| may be pushed inwardly (left to right, Fig. 2, bottom to top, Fig. 5) thereby moving its plunger 33, against the action of its resetting spring 35, into engagement with the extension 30 of the resetting member 21, thereby pivoting the resetting member 21, at 28, against the action of its resetting spring 44, from full to dotted line posi* tion (counterclockwise, Fig. 5)." This movement of the resetting member 21 causes the vertically extending portion or bar 36 thereof to engage the aligned end portions 31 of the selector bars I 6, whereupon the selector bars l6 are moved (from dotted to full line position, Fig. 4). During this movement of the selectors I 6 back into their initial position, as in full lines, Fig. 4, the

retaining members 20 are moved, or snapped, past dead center position, in the notched portions IQ of the bars I6, thereby retaining the selector bars l6 in their initial or reset position, wherein they are stopped and held by engagement of the notched portions 4| of the bars I6 with the vertical bar portion 40 of the member 39; this member 39 having onlya limited movement (clockwise, Fig. 3) by reason of having an arm 45 which engages against a wall 46 01' the frame Ii, (Fig. 3), when the bars l6 are moved back into their initial positions and engage the bar portion 40 of the member 33.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification, without departing from the spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of such variations and modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is: 1

l. A selector mechanism for automatic. phonographs, said mechanism including a support, a plurality of selector 'members mounted on said support for back and forth movement into and out of selecting position, reciprocably movable members carried by said support for moving each of said arms toward selecting position, springurged toggle mechanism for each of tor members and cooperable therewith to move said selecand yieldablyhold the same in selecting or nonselecting position upon movement of a said selector member toward either of said positions, reset means including a member movable on said support to engage and move said arms from selected toward non-selected position, means including a reciprocably movable member for operating said reset member, and means including a member movably carried on said support tor engagement with all of said selector members to move the same jointly into selecting position.

2. Selector mechanism for automatic phonographs, said mechanism including a support, a plurality of pivoted selector members on said support and pivotable into and out of selecting position, push-button members carried by said support for moving each of said selector members toward selecting position, and spring-urged toggle means operatively engaging the end portion of each of said selector members and cooperable with the latter to move the same into selecting position when said selector member has been moved a predetermined distance by a corresponding push-button member.

3. A selector mechanism for automatic phonographs including a support, a plurality of pivoted selector arms on said support and pivotable into and out of selecting position, manual selecting members on said support for moving each of said selector arms toward selecting position, snapaction mechanism'arranged at the end of each said arm for operative engagement therewith and constructed to move a said arm positively into graphs and including a support having pivoted thereon a plurality of selector members movable into and out of selecting position, selector buttons operable to move said selector members severally toward selecting position, a reset member and a bail movable thereby to engage and return one or all of said selector members from selecting to non-selecting position, together with spring-biased mechanism cooperable with each of said selector members and constructed to move said selector members severally into selecting or non-selecting position after the same have been moved a predetermined distance toward one or the other of said positions either by said selector buttons or by said reset member, respectively.

5. Selecting mechanism including a plurality of selector bars each movable back and forth bar positively into or out of selecting position 6 when said bar has been moved a predetermined distance toward either of said positions.

6. A record selecting device for automatic phonographs comprising: a frame member having a plurality of arms pivoted therein for movement into and out of selected position; said arms having a notched end portion; a plurality of slidable selector members each slidable to engage one of said arms and move the latter into selected position; and a plurality of toggle members mounted on said frame and each having an end portion engageable with the said notched portion in the end of one of said arms.

7. A record selecting device for automatic phonographs comprising: a frame; a plurality of selector arms mounted in said frame for pivotal movement into and out of selected position;- a plurality of selector buttons each engageable with a said arm to move the latter into selected position; pivoted means on said frame engageable with an end portion of each said arm and operable to move the latter past its dead-center position relative to said pivoted means when said arm is moved into and out of selected position; and

means limiting the pivotal movement of said arms in both directions from dead-center position relative to the pivoting of said arms.

8. A record selecting mechanism for ph0nographs comprising a frame member; a plurality of selector arms mounted for pivotal movement thereon into and out of selected position; selec-- tor plungers each slidable to move a said arm into selected position; means on said frame having operative engagement with each of said arms to automatically urge the latter into and out of selected position when said am is moved a predetermined distance toward either said position; a reset arm pivoted in said frame for engagement with said arms to move the latter from selected to non-selected position; and a slidable member operable to pivot said reset member into reset engagement with said arms.

I 9. A selector mechanism for automatic phonographs comprising a frame; a plurality of selector arms pivotally mounted therein for movement into and out of selected position; slidable members for moving each of said arms into a selected position; pivoted means on said frame engaging each of said arms in toggle relationship and operable to move said arms oil of dead-center position relative to their several pivotal axes when said arms are pivoted a determined distance; a reset member movable in said frame to move said arms from selected to non-selected position; means for operably moving said reset member and a member movable in said frame and operable to move all of said arms inselected position.

PAUL H. SMYTH, JR. 

